Child neglect charges may be filed against Waupun mother

Mar. 21, 2014

Written by

Action Reporter Media

WAUPUN — Child neglect charges have been referred to the Dodge County Department of Human Services and Health against a Waupun woman after her child was found wandering outside clad only in a diaper Thursday afternoon.

Police were contacted at 3:42 p.m. March 20 after a witness observed a 23-month-old girl wandering around in the vicinity of South Drummond Street and Jefferson Street near Waupun Correctional Institution.

Waupun Deputy Chief Scott Louden said the child was found two blocks away from her home. He said police have warned the 32-year-old woman on several occasions to step up supervision of her children.

“This is the seventh incident that we’ve had with this woman in the past three years in which her children have wandered away from the home without her knowing,” Louden said. “Her reply has always been that she just turned her back for a moment and the child slipped out the front door.”

Louden said the responding officer spoke with a child welfare supervisor in Dodge County who asked that a report be submitted immediately.

“It’s our fear that one of these times the child may wander out into the street and a motorist wouldn’t be able to stop in time,” Louden said. “We’ve explained the need for this parent to supervise her children, but it’s the same thing over and over again.”